Driving your RV alone

I have been solo forever because I started my RV experience after my wife died. I wanted to take my/her dog along to Alaska.

First was the Fun Finder shortly replaced with the Arctic Fox TT for the Alaska trip. Never pulled a trailer. But I learned. Not a big thing after a while. The thing I learned was to trust my mirrors and get out and look while backing in. To this day I still get out and look. Even with the class A and now the class C. Well I did hit a tree that ran behind my first class C on its first trip.

To be solo the hardest thing is to predict where you are going to stop for the night. Or finding your way through cities you do not know. I am finding a GPS to be helpful in cities.

I normally take a break at noon and call ahead to find out if there is a sight open in the range of how far I want to go for the day. If not then I call till I find a spot open and get there.

Now days with the TV backup cameras. If it was not so much work for an old guy. I would go back to a TT. But nothing beats pulling in and just getting out of the drives seat and turning around with the feeling of being home for the night or more.

My wife and I have been traveling like this since 2009. I was self-employed for many years before retiring, so vacation for me has always been at my discretion. She, however, worked for an employer who insisted she could not take more than two weeks off at a time, even though she's been there long enough to accumulated like 7 weeks annual leave each year.

So in 2009, we took US 2 clear across the Great Plains to Seattle to visit a friend. That burned up her two weeks, so she flew home, and I dragged the TT south to LA to visit our daughter and SIL, then back home.

Later I had a professional conference in Vegas, so dragged the TT out, stayed at The Oasis Resort, and when my conference ended, she flew out, and we spent her two weeks making a big circle around the Grand Canyon and taking in Bryce and Zion NPs while we were at it. She then flew home and I dragged the rig back by myself.

Most recently, I spent a week by myself taking the TT to Albuquerque for the Balloon Fiesta. She flew out to meet me, and we took in Taos, and the many towns on the road all the way back home together.

We've been married now for 50 years, working on 51 (I was a child bride) and she's retiring later this year. We're looking forward to more trips together, but she'll likely go with as well as return with.

My girl still works part-time from home. We are together all the time, so I take a lot of short trips with the RV or the fishing boat, usually around 3 days. Sometimes she will drop by for dinner if the location is close or for a night. Recently I have done some trips not far from home. I invite friends to come up for dinner in the woods. I have the fire going and make dinner for them and they all really seem to enjoy it. It is fun to have company especially in the shoulder seasons with all of that darkness.

I would say at this time 75% of he time I drive myself. I do enjoy it. Then my wife fly's in.
There are plenty of people the can help you park.

GizmosMom wrote:
Really? I drive our Class C with NO problems. I can back it into a spot. Drove our 21 foot Class B as a daily driver for 14 years all around Austin, TX.

Piece of cake!

In our case the DW is a pro at driving our 24' C, in a previous life she drove rented cube vans a LOT, heck, she takes into the grocery store and parks it in a normal space!

A couple of years back she got her 'own' M/H, a 32' A, that she takes out pretty regularly solo to dog shows, visiting friends and family or meeting me at an air show somewhere.

She says it's "mind over matter". If she doesn't mind, it doesn't matter!

JAC1982 wrote:
I'm the wife in this case, and for us, it's the opposite of some of these stories. I WANT to learn to drive with the 5er hooked up. Mainly because, what if we are out somewhere and something happens to him? I'd rather not have a crash course in learning when he's down for the count. I also get more vacation time than he does, so it would be nice to take off on my own for a trip a few days before he can go. But, so far no luck in him letting me try it out :(

You need to just tell him "we're doing this now. If you don't want to teach me, we'll find someone else, but I am going to learn to drive the combo."

If someone is willing to learn, there is no reason not to do so.

mdcamping wrote:

I just take my time backing in. I mark out where I want my TT, if I have a sharp right angle I will back in steps, get out and recheck my blind side until I am straight and have good sight lines.

Sometimes, backing in feels like the same anticipation as a golfer lining up a putt on a sloped green - you have to visualize the "line" and steer along it using a little imagination.

One downside of traveling solo is the lack of a navigator, especially when driving through large unfamiliar cities. I find driving a MH and keeping an eye on all the signs to go where I want to is challenging. Certainly our GPS helps, but having an extra pair of eyes on the road helps.

I have 1 or 2 trips a year where I will set up solo. The trips are local where my better half usually comes the next day because of work schedules.

I just take my time backing in. I mark out where I want my TT, if I have a sharp right angle I will back in steps, get out and recheck my blind side until I am straight and have good sight lines.

Excellent thread! :C

Mike

Have done it LOT for years. Since I'm retired, I typically leave home early on a Friday morning and the odd time on a Thursday to increase the chances of getting a better site. We are Thousand Trails members and have 3 CGs nearby that I often tow our TT to and DW comes down later in her car after she's off work. It's nice to beat the after work crowd that show up in the evening.

Never have problems of any kind but it is easier sometimes when DW is there to be a spotter. There's often fellow campers around that want to help you back in. Thing is, they often don't help and they don't know the correct hand signals and I sure don't want to smack into a pedestal or tree limb. Can be downright annoying sometimes. Only spotter I trust is DW.

Many tow TTs and drive RVs all over the country solo, big and small, including women with all types of RVs. While on the Oregon coast, we camped next to a lady in her 70s from New York in a HUGE MH. Pretty impressive for anyone at that age and by themselves.

Farthest I've been alone is about 300 miles (one way)and zero issues. That's when it's nice to have the dog riding shotgun with me. I've gotten some great smiles from drivers who pull up beside me at a stoplight and see the passenger, lol. If there's a lot of turns onto different roads and highways, I make a sketch of the route and with exit numbers and keep it in sight on the dash. Have a GPS also that helps.